(Yicai Global) Nov. 3 -- China's central government is working on rules that restrict the use of plastic bags and will extend the ban to areas including e-commerce, food delivery and express delivery, He Lifeng, director of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top macro-economic planner, said at a central government meeting.

The meeting, which was held yesterday, reviewed China's efforts to combat environmental pollution, reported China's state-run People's Daily. Excessive packaging in the express delivery and food delivery sectors was one of the hot topics discussed at the meeting, it said.

As these sectors grow rapidly, what is referred to as "white pollution" has re-emerged. Leading Chinese meal delivery platform Meituan Waimai processes 12 million orders a day, according to its website. It means some 24 million of plastic items are consumed daily, based on one plastic bag and one plastic meal box per order.

The relevant government authorities have published plans for implementing green packaging in the express delivery sector and will work on rules that restrict the use of non-degradable plastic packaging in the e-commerce, courier and food delivery industries, He said.

China started to ban plastic bags in June 2008. Under the new rules, the country forbade the production, distribution and use of bags under 0.025-millimeter thick, and consumers needed to pay for plastic bags provided by supermarkets, malls and bazaars.